Sutherland would later become used to seeing blood after 7 seasons playing agent Jack Bauer on “24.”

Screenwriter John Fusco has a passion for Native American culture. He went on to write Thunderheart (1992) and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002).

Dermot Mulroney (Steve) would go on to star in My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) and The Family Stone (2005).

Jack Palance went on to star in Batman and then City Slickers, for which he won an Oscar.

Estevez, Phillips and Sutherland all reunited two years later in Young Guns II (1990).

Blooper Note
The song “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” wasn’t composed until 30 years after the movie takes place.

Casting Notes
Many of the now-famous cast were just starting their careers when this came out in 1988. Lou Diamond Phillips had just done Stand and Deliver, and Charlie Sheen was coming off Wall Street.

Emilio Estevez was already a star from the 1985 hits The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo’s Fire.

You might know Casey Siemaszko from the Back to the Future movies. He’s in Biff’s gang in the ’50s.

John Tunstall is played by Terence Stamp, a.k.a. General Zod in Superman I and II.

Jack Palance was a legendary Western film star. He was in over 100 movies, but he claimed he never watched a single one of them.

Geoffrey Blake went on to appear in Forrest Gump, Apollo 13, and Cast Away.

Tunstall’s business partner, Alex McSween, is played by Terry O’Quinn, a.k.a. Locke from “Lost.”

Patrick Wayne is son of legendary Western star John Wayne. He plays Pat Garrett, who became a lawman just so he could go after Billy the Kid.

Mrs. McSween is played by Sharon Thomas Cain, the director’s wife. They’re the parents of former TV Superman, actor Dean Cain.

Victor Izay (Wilson) was in many Westerns, including “Gunsmoke” and “Bonanza.”

Henry Hill is played by the movie’s 1st Assistant Director, Chuck Myers.

This is actress Alice Carter’s first movie. These days, she’s an acting teacher.

Geoffrey Blake (McCloskey) acted alongside Emilio and Charlie again in Men at Work (1990).

Baker, the guy who gets knifed, is Jack Palance’s son Cody.

Dermot Mulroney (Dirty Steve) did more Westerns after this, like Bad Girls and The Last Outlaw.

Brian Keith (Buckshot Roberts) was Uncle Bill on “Family Affair.”

Lisa Banes (the prostitute) is best known as Eve McBain on “One Life to Live.”

Historical Notes
Billy was never a “hog boy.” He was hired as a ranch worker, bodyguard and witness.

Billy the Kid killed a man named Frank Cahill who’d been bullying him in Arizona.

Billy went to school in Silver City, NM. They say he was a very good student.

The Murphy-Dolan faction was a powerful force in New Mexico at the time.

The “Santa Fe Ring” of corrupt politicians controlled business in NM and backed Murphy.

Tunstall really did treat Billy well. In real life, he bought him a horse, a saddle and a rifle.

Billy liked to scare the Regulators, even once throwing bullets into a fire to freak them out.

The Regulators were deputized on March 1, 1878, 2 weeks after Tunstall’s murder. They were supposed to be agents of justice… but they were out for revenge.